Flying Crain

This Crain really flies when you gently pull it's tail.

1 square of origami paper. Any square paper will work, but this has a lot of folds so a thinner paper is better.

Turn the paper so the right side is down. Fold the bottom corner to meet the top. Get it as exact as possible. Set in a good crease.

Unfold step 1, turn the paper and fold the next two corners together. When finished, you should have creases going to each corner.

Fold the bottom edge of the paper so it lies along the center line. Make sure not to overlap the crease made in steps 1 and 2.

Fold the top edge to the center and crease so you have something that looks like this.

Unfold and repeat with remaining 3 corners. You will do this step a total of 4 times.

Fold top to bottom, and left to right. When finished, you should see a lot of folds.

Carefully start to fold the edges into the center to make a shape of a star then....

Bring the points up to the top and flatten. It will look like a kite.

Fold the front flap down and crease so you have a diamond shape.

Repeat by folding the back flap down.

Take the right leg and fold it down in-between the two flaps you folded down in the last step.

Repeat with the left leg

You will end up with a triangle.

Turn your work so the triangle points up. Take the 2 legs from inside the triangle and bring them part way down. These will form the head and tail. This step allows you to use your best judgment.

Test for the tail. Gently fold the wings to one side of the bird, but don't crease. Pull the tail. If nothing happens, fold the wings the opposite way and pull the new tail. If the wings fly, you found the tail. If they don't, you may have to pull a bit harder. The paper will move a bit as the wings start to move it's ok.

Fold the wings to the front of the bird.

The head can be tricky. You have to pinch the neck and do a reverse fold on the point to give the Crain it's beak.

You now have a Crain that flaps it's wings. You can fold it up into a triangle to pack in your pocket, then simply unfold to place out as a decoration, or a distraction for older kids. Young kids will rip the paper, but that's ok, you can practice making more!.

Enjoy.